Lund

Domkyrkan

We arrived in Lund last night. It is a city of 83,000 people (110, 000 in the built up area), 54 km south of Helsingborg, where we were yesterday. Now we are setting out to follow the "Lund on foot" route acquired from the Tourist office. The starting point is Lund's famous Domkyrkan (cathedral). It was originally built in the early 12th century, but although it looks quite consistent is style it was rebuilt after a fire in the 13th century and restored in the 16th and 19th centuries. Only the apse is absolutely original. The picture above was taken in the early evening.

Inside it is darker than we expected, on account of the massive stone columns supporting the roof, and mostly quite plain. The entrance porch has superb carving, although it appears to be part of the 19th century restoration. One very striking (ha! ha! - the best puns are always unintentional) is the astronomical clock, known as the Horologium mirabile Lundense. It was constructed in 1380, but put into storage in 1837, only being put back in place in 1923. The lower part allows the calculation of movable religious feasts and will need to be updated in 2123.

The large crypt was extremely impressive with its tombs and varied style of column. The most unusual feature was the column with a figure clinging on to it, said to be Finn the Giant.

 Diagonally opposite the cathedral is this lovely building which houses an apothecary's shop.

Across the road from this is an undistinguished 1930s building, which nonetheless has some fine art deco relief sculpture. I especially liked this eagle.

We headed north to begin a lengthy wander through the buildings of the University, established in 1666. The most interesting one was Kungshuset (Kings House). It was built in 1578-84 and became part of the University a century later. The top storey was added in the 19th century.

We were struck by the spaciousness of the university campus and the way spaces flowed into each other. There were no students of course so it all felt very quiet and calm, but apparently the press of bicycles in term time is such that crossing the road is quite hazardous.

We just loved this building on the corner of Biskopsgatan: a "student house" built in 1895 by J H Thomanders. It has all the extravagance of a Victorian almshouse (a particular enthusiasm of mine).

This road led to the lovely Botanical Gardens. The view across the closely planted flowers was a delight.

The buddleia bushes in the background had a fine population of Red Admirals, Peacocks and Painted Ladies. I was quite pleased with this picture of a Red Admiral's underwings, showing much more colour than is commonly noticed.

We had a nice lunch in the cafe by a small, but very pretty, lake.

We set off back towards the centre passing a number of houses, indeed whole streets, with roses and hollyhocks planted outside. It was very charming.

And then we reached Kulturet: an outdoor museum of buildings founded as long ago as 1892. In quite a small space there are a range of fascinating buildings, taken from their original sites, often when they were facing demolition, and rebuilt here. To single out just one, I was especially taken by the church of Bosebo, built of wood in 1652. The free standing bell-tower is not original, but was built in the local style.

Inside there is a lovely wooden pulpit and a decorated altar in a style that could be called Folk Art (i.e. not high art). We went to an interesting exhibition on this at Compton Verney a couple of years ago and spent a good time afterwards debating the definition and boundaries.

We headed back past the cathedral, noting the original apse ...

... and finished our walk in Martenstorget where there is the Food Market and this delightful tall brick house with stepped gables.

Conditions: showery at first and mostly cloudy, but quite warm.

Distance: about 2 and half miles.

Rating: fours stars. The route was a little disappointing in that it was basically a route around all the museums of the city. I suppose this is a valid concept, but personally I am more interested in a city's buildings, parks, statues and the like.